Saturday, 7 January 2017

2016/17 Hastings International - Final Day

With 4 players tied for first, and another 8 players half a point behind, the final round of the 2016/17 Hastings International has the potential to throw up almost any number of winners. As is turned out, it was only GM Deep Sengupta who was able to move to 7 points, leavibg the rest of the field in his wake. He defeated GM Murali Kathikeyan on the top board, while both GM SP Sethuraman and GM Allan Stig Rasmussen both lost to lower rated opponents. Sethuraman went down to IM Miklos Galyas (HUN), while Rasmussen lost to IM R Praggnanandhaa in a very complicated game.
GM Bogdan Lalic ended WGM Nino Maisuradze hope of an IM norm, and finished tied for second, as did English FM Ravi Haria, who scored both an IM norm, and was the best placed English player.
Australian IM's Justin Tan and Bobby Cheng both finished the events with wins, but ended up short of what was required for GM norms. Harry Press narrowly missed on on the Under 2200 (which is decided on difference between score expected and score achieved), after Claudio Boino (POR) defeated FM Laurence Webb in the final round to overtake him.
At the prize giving ceremony, sponsored Tradewise Insurance and the Hastings Borough Council announced continuing financial support for the event, so the Hastings International will be holding its 93rd edition at the end of this year.